As Michael Pollan pointed out in The Omnivore’s Dilemma, we have become the people of the corn. Only we don’t seem to get that notion. If we did, alarm bells over this past summer’s drought in the corn belt would have been blaring and it would be a campaign issue.
But just wait until the Bacon Shortage hits next year and we’ll hear the howling. The UK National Pig Association reports:
A world shortage of pork and bacon next year is now unavoidable,…
New data shows the European Union pig herd is declining at a significant rate, and this is a trend that is being mirrored around the world. Pig farmers have been plunged into loss by high pig-feed costs, caused by the global failure of maize and soya harvests.
US farmers are scrambling to replace the increasingly expensive corn based feed for their livestock. And they’ve been finding some interesting substitutes. From the Vancouver Sun:
As the worst drought in half a century has ravaged this year’s U.S. corn crop and driven corn prices sky high, the market for alternative feed rations for beef and dairy cows has also skyrocketed. Brokers are gathering up discarded food products and putting them out for the highest bid to feed lot operators and dairy producers, who are scrambling to keep their animals fed.
In the mix are cookies, gummy worms, marshmallows, fruit loops, orange peels, even dried cranberries. Cattlemen are feeding virtually anything they can get their hands on that will replace the starchy sugar content traditionally delivered to the animals through corn.
These cheap alternatives will run out soon enough because what has made them cheap is all the HFCS — CORN syrup. On the plus side, consuming less meat and corn will make our diets healthier.
The apple crop here was devastated this summer. I’ve been checking around the local orchards and very few are able to make cider because of the shortage. Saw some trucked in cider in a grocery last weekend priced at $8.99/gal. – more than 2X last fall’s orchard price. The soybeans seemed to withstand the drought conditions much better than the corn and many other, less widely planted crops. Maybe we’ll have to drag out some of those old tofu recipes.
Alot can be done with soy-based products. More than just tofu.
Well, as reduced corn crops leads to fewer pork chops, we won’t need as much a applesauce on the side. So, nature is balancing it all out for us.
Glad I like tofu as long as it’s not doctored to look like a hamburger.
It’s a shame about climate change causing this corn disaster. But good can come from it. We’ve been so addicted to corn, probably due to subsidies for growing it, when it’s really not the wonder grain that it was believed to be 40 years ago. Look how fat America is. We all battle with our weight. Type 2 diabetes has exploded in the US. Corn in nearly everything we eat is a contributing factor. I don’t mean to imply that it’s the only factor though. The car culture, sedentary lifestyles, etc are probably just as much to blame.
I hope that this shakes up the processed food industry and, out of economic necessity, they find other food products to use that might also be less harmful.
I saw a documentary King Corn a few years back that was a real eye-opener about how ubiquitous corn has become in our food supply. Highly recommended viewing.
All true — but corn isn’t the only major cash crop that is vulnerable to drought and soil depletion. However, perhaps the larger problem is the capitalistic structure of our food supply. That aggregate 10% drop in corn production isn’t distributed equally and quickly enough throughout the system. The hardest hit farmers will either end up further in debt or go under while those less impacted will do very well. At the consumer level, we should all be fine consuming 15% less in corn derived products and 15% fewer calories for the same price, but it doesn’t work that way, not in a global marketplace with many commodities speculators. A recent LATimes article reported that corn futures were above $8 when as recently as June it were close to $5. Two years ago it was $4.08.
cheap handbags
For a more comprehensive summary on this issue, see praenomen’s diary — They’re out of feed, they’re out of pasture, they’re out of water. Some excellent informational comments as well.